In a continent that generally lags behind in high technology, African handicraft has come in handy as a substitute for photography. The African uses sculptures to preserve his memories. The Akamba and Kisii tribes of Kenya, for example, use wood and stone respectively. They sculpt out statues of humans and animals ,wooden face masks and virtually anything that is of interest to them. Like Photography, the quality of these sculptures has improved with availability of  better tools. They now look like real and are unique. But unlike photography they are all three dimensional.

The African sculpting talent has also helped him/her to make tools for himself/herself. For defense and hunting, he has bows, arrows, spears and shields. For cooking she has clay pots that also keep her drinking water cool. He/she has carved out musical instruments from horns and wood. From sisal her handcraft produced beautiful bags called kiondo (pronounced “chondo” in local dilect). In some African communities these tools are used in ceremonies such as circumcision celebrations.
African handicraft talent is also used for beauty. The Maasai, a nomadic Kenya tribe occupying most of the Kenyan Rift Valley are well known for their love for beauty. They thread beads in colorful patterns to produce beautiful necklaces, bangles, ear and finger rings. This handicraft also combines to  denote profile like the age group the wearer belongs to, or the number of children the lady wearer has, among other things.

About the author:
Dr Aggrey Marami has special interest in culture and wild animals. For more information visit>
http://ammarami.com